LDS Church Owns Coca-Cola

MYTH: The Mormon Church owns the Coca-Cola Company

FALSE

The LDS Church does not own the Coca-Cola Company. The company itself is much too large to be own by any single individual or organization (its value exceeding $140 billion.)

A variation of this rumor is that the LDS Church owns stock in Coca-Cola. While this is possible, we have been unable to verify whether or not it is true. The official position of the LDS Church is that all investment holdings are confidential. However, any ownership that the LDS Church could have would in no way constitute a position of influence and/or control within the company (a 1% ownership in Coca-Cola would be worth roughly $1.375 billion.)

Our favorite internet cops, snopes.com, allege that this myth originated with “the notion that Mormons are forbidden caffeinated beverages, thus how deliciously ironic it would be if the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints quietly owned a company it raged against from the pulpit.”[1]

It should be noted that although Mormons have been advised by Church leaders to avoid caffeinated beverages, this suggestion is not official Church doctrine. Thus, Mormons are able to indulge in caffeinated products while remaining members in good standing.

For additional information, refer to www.snopes.com

[1] Snopes.com/cokelore/mormon.asp